The campaign, which runs through Aug. 9, stems from President Barack Obama’s belief that federal employees are best poised to generate effective and efficient ways to ensure good stewardship of taxpayer dollars, officials said.

“The SAVE Award represents a key opportunity to identify substantial savings in places that traditional financial managers may not know to look,” said Elizabeth McGrath, the Defense Department’s deputy chief management officer. “Every member of our workforce has deep knowledge and experience in their jobs and knows where inefficiencies lay hidden.”

Federal employees can participate by submitting their ideas for more effective and efficient government or by encouraging coworkers to vote on their ideas or to submit their own, she said.

“The SAVE Award helps to empower these employees to speak up and become proactive change agents by promoting ways to achieve cost reductions,” McGrath said.

Since the inaugural SAVE Awards in 2009, federal employees have submitted more than 85,000 cost-shrinking ideas, with dozens of the most promising suggestions included in the president’s budget, specifically in the cuts, consolidations, and savings volume, White House officials said.

Relevant agencies will review all ideas for potential action, including inclusion in the president’s budget proposals, as more than 80 ideas have been in the past four years.

“It is always our responsibility as good stewards of taxpayer dollars to adopt better business practices, and it is even more important in today’s constrained fiscal environment to aggressively target opportunities for improvement,” McGrath said.

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